Wire-fence stay



(No Model.)-

L. CLARK. WIRE FENCE STAY.

Pateted Sept Wilgzssc's AN DREW EGRAHAM. FHDTO-LITNQWASNI NGIION, D C,

Unites States PATENT QFJFIQEQ LEANDERCLARK, OF GREENVILLE, OHIO.

WIRE-FENCE STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 546,045, dated September 10, 1895. Application filed January 31, 1895. Serial No. 536870 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEANDER CLARK, a citi zen of the United States, residing at Greenville, in the county of Darke and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Fence, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to fence-stays, and has for its object to provide a simple and efficient stay for connecting the horizontal wires or runners of a fence, such stay having a rigid or approximately inflexible intermediate section and terminal movable sections, whereby the topmost wire of the fence is capable of lateral and vertical movement and the lowermost wire is capable of lateral vibration when strained by the attacks of stock.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features of the same will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of aportion of a fence provided with stays constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig.2 is a (letailviewin perspective of one of the stays, the runners of the fence being shown in dotted lines. tion on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 to show the upper portion of the stay and the connection be tween the upper section and the rigid or intermediate section.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The main or intermediate portion 1 of the stay is constructed of a continuous wire doubled upon itself to form approximately parallel sides 2 and 3, and having its ends connected at any suitable point-as, for instance, near its upper end, as shown in the drawings-by interlocking hooks 4. The side 2 of the loop is straight throughout, and bears against the sides of the runners 5, which are crossed thereby; but the side 3 of the loop is provided at intervals with twin-spaced eyes 6, arranged, preferably, in horizontal planes, respectively above and belowthe intersected runners, whereby the runners lie between the planes of the eyes. The eyes are integral with the side 3 of the loop, and are formed by mak ing a coil or loop in the plane of the side and subsequently twisting the same into a hori- Fig. 3 is a detail seczontal position. The side 2 of the loop extends through these twin parallel eyes, and thus incloses the runnersin the spaces therebetween. The upper end of the loop is connected to a runner by means of a tie-wire 7, which is coiled at its extremitiesaroun'd the runner, and similar tie-wires 8 are arranged at the points of intersection of the stay with the runners to prevent independent lateral movement of the former.

In order to provide for applying the stay to the runners after the latter have been stretched, I disconnect the sides 2 and 3 of the loop at the lower end andprovide the extremities thus formed with hooks 9, which engage the adjacent runner, and as the interlocking books 4: at the ends of the loop are arranged upon the straight sides of the latter it will be seen that I form a straight detachable locking-pin 10, which forms a part of the straight side 2 of the loop. Hence in applying the stay to the runners the side 3 thereof is placed in such a position as to engage the runners between the pairs of twin eyes, after which the locking-pin is inserted through the registering-eyes, the hooks tat the ends of the loop proper are interlocked, and, finally, the extremities formed at the lower end of the loop are bent upward to form the hooks 9 to engage the adjacent runner.

The upper terminal section 12 is constructed of a continuous wire having its extremities connected between the uppermost andthe adjacent wireof the fence by interlocking loops 13, and provided at its extremities with coils 14 and 15 for engaging said uppermost and adjacent wires, respectively. -The tie-wire which connects the upper end of the main or intermediate section with the contiguous runner provides for vertical movement of such runner independently of the main or intermediate section of the stay, whereby when downward pressure is applied to the upper-- most runner it is capable of yielding to prevent straining the parts of the stay. The

upper end of the upper section of the stay is secured to the uppermost runner by means of a tie-wire 16. I V

In order to allow lateral vibration of the lowermost wire or runner of the fence, 1 cmploy a lower terminal section 17, constructed of a continuous wire having its extremities connected by interlocking loops 18 and thus doubled upon itself to form a loop, the ends of which are provided with coils 19, engaging the lowermost and the adjacent runners. Tiewires 20 and 21 connect the runners and the lower section of the stay at their points of intersection, said tie-wire 21 also engaging the terminal hooks at the lower extremity of the main or intermediate section.

From the above'description it will be seen that the improved stay may be applied to a fence after the runners have been arranged in position and that said stay allows vertical movement of the uppermost runner and lateral movement of the uppermost and lowermost runners to prevent stock from bending or otherwise injuring the stays.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

The upper loose section may be duplicated or may be omitted, according to the purpose for which the fence is designed, and in case of the omission of this loose section the main or stiff section of the stay is extended to the uppermost wire of the fence.

Having described the invention, I claim 1. Afence stay havingan intermediate rigid section intersecting and connected to a plurality of fence wires or runners, an upper terminal section connected to the upper end of the main or intermediate section and capable of vertical and lateral movement, and a terminal lower section connected to the lower end of the main or intermediate section and capable of lateral movement at its lower end, substantially as specified.

2. A fence stay having a main section comprising approximately parallel sides, one of which is provided at intervals with twin spaced horizontal eyes arranged respectively above and below the wires or runners intersected by the stay, and the other side of which is straight and engages said eyes to lock the wires or runners in the spaces between the twin eyes, and terminal upper and lower sections jointed to the extremities of the main sections and capable of independent relative movement, substantially as specified.

3. A fence stay having a main section constructed to form approximately parallel sides, one of which is provided with a series of integral twin spaced eyes arranged at intervals corresponding with the fence wires or runners and occupying positions respectively above and below the same, and the other side of which is provided with a detachable portion forming a locking pin to engage said eyes, and upper and lower terminal sectionsloosely connected with the extremities of the main section and capable of independent move ment, substantially as described.

4. A fence stay having a main inflexible section constructed to form approximately parallel sides 2 and 3, the side 2 being provided at intervals corresponding with the intervals between the fence wires or runners with twin spaced horizontal eyes, which lie above and below the planes of the wires or runners, and the side 8 having a removable straight portion forming a locking pin which engages said eyes, the upper extremity of said removable portion being connected to the body portion of the section by means of interlocking loops, and the lower extremities of the sides of the section being connected to the contiguous wire or runner by means of hooks, tie-wires connecting the stay with the wires or runners at the points of intersection therewith, an upper terminal section provided at its extremities with coils to engage contiguous wires or runners, a tie-wire connecting the lower end of said terminal section with the upper end of the main section to form a sliding joint, and a lower terminal section provided at its extremities with coils engaging the lowermost and a contiguous wire or runner, substantially as specified.

5. A fence stay having a main rigid section intersecting and connected to a plurality of fence wires or runners, and a terminal lower section connected to the lower end of the main or intermediate section and capable of lateral movement at its lower end, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LEANDER CLARK. Witnesses:

ALLEN MURPHY, R. S. FRIZELL. 

